|
| Brad Kairdolf, Josh Maier, Jordan Whatley and Pranav Diwan |
The undergraduate program is designed to provide outstanding undergraduate students with a platform in which to form a research relationship with a faculty mentor. Each undergraduate will receive a $5,000 stipend and $2,000 for research supplies for their projects.
2002-2003
Five applications were received for three positions in the fall of 2002. Two students and one team of four students were chosen by the Selection Committee. The students and their mentors/projects are listed below:
Pranav Daiwan, Brad Kairdolf, Josh Maier and Jordan Whately (Group Project): “Design proposal for an automated sterile external mixer.” Mentor : Dr. Todd Monroe, Biological & Agricultural Engineering.
Julie T. Nguyen, “Evaluation of the prevalence of E.Coli 0157:H7 in cattle, rodent, bird and deer droppings and their environment on farms in Louisiana.” Mentor : Marlene Janes, Agricultural Chemistry
Manuela Esso Minko, “In vitro screening of rice cells for resistance to pathogen toxins (bacterial and fungal) and the herbicide Liberty.” Mentor : Milton Rush, Department of Plant Pathology
2003-2004
Emily Todd is seeking to determine the mechanism whereby resistant starch reduces body fat and food intake. Her study is titled “A study of the effects of resistant starch and a methyl cellulose diet on food intake, body weight, measures of body fat, mRNA levels of ghrelin, CCK, CLP-1, and PYY by PCR, and serum levels of those hormones by RIA." er study will attempt to determine if energy dilution is the only mechanism involved in reduced body fat or if the production of short chain fatty acids from fermentation of resistant starch is a contributing factor. This study will be conducted in the School of Human Ecology .
Elizabeth Chamberlain’s study is titled “Sugar vitrification as a method of preserving animal oocytes and embryos.” She is investigating a method of freezing of oocytes and embryos that will help to reduce the formation of ice crystals during the cell cooling process. It is hoped this will reduce improper chromosome pairings and aneuploidy that accompanies warming after freezing of these cells. If successful, this project will aid livestock producers in storage, shipping and marketing pre-fertilized oocytes for in vitro fertilization, nuclear transfer and cloning.
Wesley Burnside is trying to develop a repeatable protocol for the in vitro culture of amnion cells harvested from a live chicken embryo and to determine the developmental potential of in vitro fertilization-derived bovine embryos co-cultured on avian amniotic cells in vitro. Wes is working in the Embryo Biotechnology laboratory in St. Gabriel with Richard Denniston.
2004-2005
Megan Purpera works with Dr. Robert Godke and Dr. Ken Bondioli in the Embryo Biotechnology Laboratory to study gene expression patterns of Oct-4, IFG-2 and H19, to determine if aggregation of mulitple nuclear transfer embryos can normalize gene expression.
Elizabeth Chamberlain extended her previously BEST-funded work with Dr. Robert Godke in the Embryo Biotechnology Laboratory to investigate the effect of lipid content on cryopreservation of oocytes and embryos and a comparison of Brahman and English breed cows.
Daniel Lundquist works with Dr. Svetlana Oard in the AgCenter Biotechnology Laboratory to study the expression of beta purothionin antimicrobial peptides from wheat seed to increase disease resistance in Arabidopsis plants as a model for agricultural crops.
2005-2006
Daniel Lungquist continued his work with Dr. Svetlana Oard after sitting out the remainder of the spring semester 2005.
Shayna Loebig works with Dr. Michael Keenan in the Nutrition Division of the School of Human Ecology. Shayna is working on determining the mechanism of how resistant starch reduces body fat in rats.
Archana Jha is working on classifying isolates of aspergillus flavus with Dr. Kenneth Damann of Plant Pathology